Agenda item

To receive an update in relation to the Council’s approach to tackling domestic abuse.

Ms Jeanette Richards, Assistant Director of Children’s Services provided information on the Council’s approach to tackling domestic abuse. The Committee was informed that Blackpool’s rate of domestic abuse was relatively high at over twice the average rate for Lancashire and the town’s high levels of socio-economic deprivation had been identified as a risk factor for domestic abuse. Ms Richards reported that Blackpool had greater proportions of younger people who could be lone parents, on low incomes, have a long term illness and/or low education levels, which she advised were all risk factors for increased occurrences of domestic abuse. In addition, between June 2019 and June 2020 there had been 748 children from the Blackpool area who were living in households which had been referred to Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conferences (MARAC). Ms Richards reported that activity was being undertaken around domestic abuse with the aim of improving the quality of practice to families experiencing some form of domestic abuse.

In response to the reported referral figures, the Committee questioned the thresholds used for the stepping down of cases to ‘no further action.’ Members noted that in the 2020/2021 financial year, of the 848 children who had been subject to an assessment where domestic abuse had been identified as a factor, 467 had resulted in either a step down to services or no further action. Ms Richards advised that referrals to the Children’s and Families Hub arose after any intervention by the police. Following this, the multi-agency team reviewed all referrals and any relevant information would be shared with a child’s school to make them aware of any incidents or concerns. She assured Members that no referrals resulted in no further action, as all would be actioned in some way. Cases could be stepped down to Early Help or stepped up to Children’s Social Care, depending on the specific findings of each case and thresholds would be closely monitored throughout the whole process.

The Committee sought clarification around whether children who had been referred due to domestic abuse would be supported away from the family unit, with an emphasis being placed on raising their awareness that domestic abuse was not normal in a family setting. Ms Richards reported that following a domestic abuse referral, a social worker or health professional might make contact separately with the child away from the family. She informed Committee Members of the bespoke services offered by ‘The Den’, which aimed to raise awareness around domestic abuse, as well as the mandatory health and wellbeing work undertaken in schools around healthy personal relationships.

The Committee acknowledged the difficult job undertaken by social workers but noted the importance of their role and of vulnerable children’s reliance on social workers and their ability to protect children from harmful family environments. In relation to the cited 748 children from the Blackpool area living in households which had been referred to Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conferences, the Committee sought clarification over the specific number of households involved. Ms Richards advised that some of these children might come from multi-sibling families and offered to circulate more detailed analysis of the figures to the Committee following the meeting. In addition, the Committee requested further data around the number of children whose families had elected to home educate them, raising the concern that home schooled children ran the risk of any issues going undetected. The Committee was informed that the school nurse service was still offered to home schooled pupils and that in the event of an unmet need being identified, this would be escalated for further review. Ms Richards agreed to provide data around the number of children identified as being exposed to incidents of domestic abuse who were being home schooled.

The significance of the findings contained within the recent ‘Child of the North’ report was discussed by the Committee, with Members acknowledging the correlation between childhood poverty and an increased risk of domestic abuse. The Committee noted the relevance of the report’s findings to Blackpool and agreed that further work should be undertaken by the Committee in order to allow a thorough consideration of the report’s recommendations.

Further details were sought around the Caring Dads programme, which the Committee had been informed was an evidence based programme designed to rebuild relationships between fathers and their children. Ms Richards reported that the programme had recently been evaluated by the Violence Reduction Network and had been found to be effecting positive change. Members were advised that the Caring Dads programme worked with men to support them in considering their behaviour and the impact it could have on their children.

The Committee discussed more subtle forms of domestic abuse, in particular coercive control and emotional abuse, with Members raising concerns that for some children and young people such behaviour could become normalised in the family home. Ms Richards outlined the Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) programme offered in schools and informed the Committee that this included lessons on healthy relationships and family interactions, which the Committee requested further details of at a future meeting. In addition, she reported that social care assessments had been designed to help identify any coercive behaviours in the home and noted the benefits of the ‘Ask Angela’ campaign in raising awareness of the problem within the wider community by allowing bars and associated venues to identify and help people who felt at risk of sexual abuse.

In response to a question on the approach taken by the police towards victims of domestic abuse, Ms Richards reported that a bespoke domestic abuse team was to be reintroduced, which would consist of officers who understood the vulnerabilities of victims of domestic abuse. Furthermore, a multi-agency team had been formed specifically to respond to incidents of domestic abuse.

The Committee sought additional information around the reported eLearning module to be undertaken throughout January 2022 by all Early Help staff, with the aim of raising awareness of the impact of parental conflict on children. Clarification was sought over whether the training would extend to cover nurseries, with Ms Richards confirming that Early Years staff, including those in privately run nurseries, should have undertaken safeguarding training which identified the route employees should utilise to report any safeguarding concerns.

The Committee agreed:

1.      To request that details be provided of the number of households involved in the cited data of children living in households which had been referred to Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conferences;

2.      To request data around the number of children identified as being exposed to incidents of domestic abuse who were being home schooled;

3.      That further details of the Personal, Social and Health Education programme offered in schools be provided at a future meeting, with particular emphasis on raising awareness of coercive relationships;

4.      That further consideration be given by the Committee to the findings of the ‘Child of the North’ report and the potential impact on Blackpool.